Sliver forming apparatus



June 14, 1966 R. W. SMITH, JR

SLIVER FORMING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 10. 1960 INVENTOR. RUPERT W. SMITH, JR.

his ATTORNEYS June 14, 1966 R. w. SMITH, JR 3,255,495

SLIVER FORMING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 10, 1960 v s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN RUPERT W. SM JR.

BY WM M his ATTORNEYS June 14, 1966 R. w. SMITH, JR 3,255,495

SLIVER FORMING APPARATUS Filed Oct. 10. 1960 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. RUPERT W. SMITH, JR.

his ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,255,495 SLIVER FORMING APPARATUS Rupert W. Smith, Jr., Whitinsviile, Mass., assignor, by mesne assignments, to Whitin Machine Works, Inc, Whitinsviile, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Filed Oct. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 61,555 6 Claims. ((11. 19150) This invention relates to a sliver forming. apparatus and, more particularly, to a pre-condensing and guide aparatus located between the drawing rolls and the usual condensing trumpet.

Various pre-condensing and guide apparatuses are known, such as that described in United States Patent No. 2,878,528. These apparatuses essentially comprise a precondensing trumpet located proximate to the drawing rolls and followed by a support which guides the precondensed sliver to the usual condensing trumpet located in the coiling head. The basic purposes of such precondensing devices are to support and control the sliver movement between the drawing rolls and the coiler trumpet and thereby to reduce sliver breakage and the amount of fly in this zone. It is advantageous to place the pre-condensing trumpet as close as possible to the drawing rolls, but this close placement causes the procedure of starting or threading the web through the trumpet to be very diflicult.

An important object of this invention is, therefore, to provide an apparatus whereby the mouth of the precondensing trumpet is placed close to the drawing rolls and yet threading of the web into said trumpet involves little difliculty. A further object of this invention is to provide an imroved pre-condensing and guide apparatus which is easily detachable from the trumpet lever.

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved pre-condensing and guide apparatus in which the detrimental effects of fly produced from the coiler trumpet are reduced.

Further objects of the invention and the details comprised by it appear in the following description and drawings Which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of the improved sliver processing apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the improved sliver processing apparatus; and Y FIGURE 3 is an end elevation view of the improved sliver processing apparatus, as seen from the back of the drawing frame.

The several parts of conventional drawing frame are shown in the drawings. The front or delivery rolls 12 and 13 of the drafting mechanism move a web 40 to a pre-condensing trumpet 11. The web 40 is preliminarily condensed in the trumpet 11 to form a sliver, and this sliver moves in a sliver supporting channel of a sliver support member 17 to a coiler trumpet 19. Calender rolls 21 and 22, which are mounted in the front of the drawing frame and are driven by suitable means (not shown in the drawings), pull the pre-condensed sliver through the coiler trumpet 19 and pass it into a coiling drum (not shown in the drawings). The coiler trumpet 19 is secured to a trumpet lever 18 which is pivotally mounted on the drawing frame by means of a shaft 20.

A suitable electrical mechanism for stopping the operation of the drawing frame (not shown in the drawings) is connected to an electrical contact 24 which is mounted on the drawing frame by means of a bracket 23. In the normal operation of the drawing frame, the free end of the trumpet lever 18 rests on a flat spring 26 and is thereby held clear of the electrical contact 24. Should a bunch occur in the sliver and choke the coiler trumpet 19, the force of the bunched sliver against the coiler trumpet 19 will cause the trumpet. lever 18 to move downward to Patented June 14, 1966 make contact with the electrical contact point 24, thereby stopping the operation of the drawing frame.

The present invention is embodied in means for forming a sliver from a web received from a web treating apparatus such as the rolls 12 and 13, comprising a sliver support member such as the member 17 described above,

a condensing device adapted to receive the web and condense it into a sliver, such as the pre-condensing trumpet 11, and means to mount the condensing device adjacent to the web treating apparatus and for movement with respect to the sliver support member in a direction transverse to the path of movement of the web. In this way, threading of theweb into the condensing device is facilitated.

In a particular embodiment of the invention described attached to one of its arms and which rests on the trumpet lever 18. In operation, the web passes between the feed rolls 12 and 13, impinges on the coverging sides 38 of the pre-condensing trumpet l1, and passes through the opening 37 in the trumpet 11. The elevation of the precondensing trumpet 11 with respect to the nip of the rolls 12 and 13 may be adjusted by turning the screw 15. The pre-condensing trumpet 11 may be placed in a position convenient for threading the web through it by stopping the operation of the drawing frame and swinging the forked bracket 14 upward about its pivot 16 until the arms of the forked bracket 14 touch the flared side stops 39 of the sliver support'member 17. The flared stops 39 are preferably placed so as to allowthe bracket 14 to be rotated to a position past the vertical osition and to rest upon the flared stops. In this position the bracket 14 frame, thereby leaving both of his hands free to roll or rub the web 40 to thread it through the pre-condensing trumpet 11. The improved apparatus of this invention thereby allows close placement of the trumpet '11 to the rolls 12 and 13 when the drawing frame is in operation and, at the same time, provides means whereby threading of the web 40 through the pre-condensing trumpet 11 can be conveniently accomplished.

Another feature of the apparatus is directed to the object of providing a sliver guide apparatus which is easily detachable from the trumpet lever. Pursuant thereto, the improved sliver support member 17 has a sliver supporting channel 25, a primary locating hole 27, a secondary locating hole 28, a recess 29, an opening 30, and flared sides 31. The trumpet lever 18 is drilled and tapped to receive a stud 33 and a plug 34 having a spring plunger 35 and is provided with a locating pin 32. The recess 29 and the opening 30 are located so as to receive the shank and head, respectively, of the stud 33, and the primary locating hole 27 and the secondary locating hole 28 are located so as to receive the pin 32 and the plug 34, respectively. The sliver support member 17 may be attached to the trumpet lever 18 by placing the primary locating hole 27 over the pin 32 and then rotating the sliver support member 17 about the pin 32 until the plug 34 enters the hole 28, at which point the shank of the stud 33 is in the recess 29, and the head of the stud 33 is in the opening 30. The locating pin 32 and the plug 34 prevent movement of the sliver support member 17 in a horizontal plane, and the stud 33 prevents movement of the sliver support member 17 in a vertical plane. The improved pre-condensing and guide apparatus is thus conveniently attached to the trumpet lever and can be easily and quickly detached by simply rotating the sliver support member 17 about the locating pin 32 in an opposite direction until the support member is clear of the stud 33. The stud 33 is preferably located between the pin 32 and the plug 34 but the positioning of the pin 32, the

stud 33, and the plug 34 is not essential to this invention.

The pin 32 may be affixed to the sliver support member 17 with the locating hole 27 being provided in the trurnpet lever 18, and similar reversals of parts may be made with the plug 34, and the locating hole 28, and the stud 33 and the recess and opening 29 and 30.

Still another feature of the apparatus is that it is formed in such a way as to minimize the detrimental effects of fly produced in the coiler trumpet. Pursuant thereto, the improved sliver support member 17 is provided with flared sides 31 which are directed away from the sliver supporting channel 25 and which reduce the detrimental effects, of fly produced by the coiler trumpet. The diameter of the hole in the coiler trumpet varies from 0.113 inch to 0.160 inch, depending on the weight of the sliver being processed. As the pre-condensed sliver is pulled through this small hole in the coiler trumpet 19, air is squeezed out of the sliver, thereby creating some fly at the mouth of the trumpet 19. This fly, which is carried by the escaping air, is deflected by the flared sides 31 of the sliver support 17 and is thereby prevented from reaching the traveling sliver in the sliver supporting channel 25.

The foregoing description has disclosed a new and improved pre-condensing and guide apparatus for the processing of slivers, wherein threading of the pre-condensing trumpet and detachment of the sliver support from the trumpet lever are easily accomplished, and whereby the fly which is formed at the mouth of the coiler trumpet is prevented from reaching the moving sliver in the sliver supporting channel.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been heretofore described, it is understood that the invention includes all equivalent modifications thereof.

I claim:

1. Means for forming a sliver from a web received from a web treating apparatus, comprising a sliver support member provided with a sliver supporting channel, a condensing device adapted to receive the web, condense it into a sliver and feed the sliver to said channel, and means to mount the condensing device adjacent to said channel and to said web treating apparatus in an operating position to process the sliver but generally inhibiting easy access to the condensing device for manual threading of the device, said mounting means being mounted pivotally on the support member so as to be re.- tatable in a direction to move the condensing device away from the operating position of said condensing device and in a direction initially transverse to the path of movement of the web, whereby threading of the web into the eondensing device is facilitated.

2. The apparatus described in claim 1 in which the mounting means is rotatable through an angle of about 3. In a pre-condensing and guide apparatus for a sliver, the combination comprising a sliver support member provided with an upwardly facing portion adapted to guide the sliver and a lower portion having a bottom surface, a trumpet lever having a top surface adapted to contact said bottom surface of said sliver support member, and means for detachably connecting said sliver support member to said trumpet lever comprising a primarylocating hole in one of said surfaces and a locating pin mounted on the other of said surfaces and adapted and located to enter said primary locating hole; a plug and spring plunger mounted in one of said surfaces and a secondary locating hole in the other of said surfaces adapted and located to receive said plug; a recess and sidewise facing opening adjacent one of said surfaces and a stud having a shank and head mounted adjacent the other of said surfaces located and adapted to enter said recess and opening in a sidewise direction, said locating pin, said plug, said stud, and said holes and recesses being located so that when said locating pin is inserted in said primary locating hole, and said sliver support member is rotated toward its operative position, said plug will be forced by said spring plunger to enter said secondary locating hole, and said shank and said head of said stud will enter said recess and said opening in a sidewise direction, thereby holding said support member in its operative position securely against said trumpet lever.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the locating pin, the plug and spring plunger, and the stud are all mounted on the top surface of the trumpet lever, and the primary locating hole, the secondary locating hole, and the recess and opening are all located in the bottom surface of the sliver support member.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein the stud is located at a position on the trumpet lever between the 10- cating pin and the plug and spring plunger.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the locating pin is positioned closer to the sliver discharge end of the sliver support member than is the plug and spring plunger.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 690,596 1/1902 Mathewson.

2,187,830 1/1940 Jones 19-157 X 2,239,403 4/1941 Schlums 19157 2,858,577 11/1958 West 19-157 2,878,528 3/1959 Silby 19-165 2,953,823 9/1960 Lynch 19157 DONALD W. PARKER, Primary Examiner. 

1. MEANS FOR FORMING A SLIVER FROM A WEB RECEIVED FROM A WEB TREATING APPRATUS, COMPRISING A SLIVER SUPPORT MEMBER PROVIDED WITH A SLIVER SUPPORTING CHANNEL, A CONDENSING DEVICE ADAPTED TO RECEIVE THE WEB, CONDENSE IT INTO A SLIVER AND FEED THE SLIVER TO SAID CHANNEL, AND MEANS TO MOUNT THE CONDENSING DEVICE ADJACENT TO SAID CHANNEL AND TO SAID WEB TREATING APPARATUS IN AN OPERATING POSITION TO PROCESS THE SLIVER BUT GENERALLY INHIBITING EASY ACCESS TO THE CONDENSING DEVICE FOR MANUAL THREADING OF THE DEVICE, SAID MOUNTING MEANS BEING MOUNTED PIVOTALLY ON THE SUPPORT MEMBER SO AS TO BE ROTATABLE IN A DIRECTION TO MOVE THE CONDENSING DEVICE AWAY FROM THE OPERATING POSITION OF SAID CONDENSING DEVICE AND IN A DIRECTION INITIALLY TRANSVERSE TO THE PATH OF MOVEMENT OF THE WEB, THEREBY THREADING OF THE WEB INTO THE CONDENSING DEVICE IS FACILITATED. 